He will meet his Cypriot counterpart Ioannis Kasoulides for a private meeting at the foreign ministry in Nicosia, followed by statements to the press and a working lunch.
On the agenda will be Cyprus-UK bilateral relations, developments in Cyprus, the British position on the need to reform the European Union, immigration, as well as regional issues of common interest.
Hammond will also be received by President Nicos Anastsasiades. It is understood the foreign secretary may also visit the British bases though a spokesman said on Thursday they had not received any instructions related to such a visit.
Hammond had been due to visit Cyprus at the end of March as part of a UK government’s road-show on EU reforms but the idea was mixed when there was some furore that he might visit then Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on April 1, the 60th anniversary of the start of the EOKA struggle against British colonial rule .Hammond also became bogged down in Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland at the time.
Cyprus Mail